A raw account of Nilani Nimalarajah’s death, given by her teenage daughter, was among the most distressing pieces of evidence heard by the courts
12:49, 18 Jan 2026Updated 12:51, 18 Jan 2026
Nimalarajah Mathiyadaranam stabbed his estranged wife Nilani Nimalarajah to death at Low Cost Food and Wine in Bootle(Image: Liverpool ECHO/Merseyside Police)
On a summer’s afternoon in June 2025, Nimalarajah Mathiyadaranam was slumped on the ground outside the job centre, his back propped up against a tree, sipping from the pre-mixed cans of Sprite and Absolut vodka which he had not long since purchased on a four for the price of three deal from Asda. In his yellow JD Sports drawstring bag, he had with him a set of five kitchen knives, a roll of duct tape from Poundland and a glass brown bottle labelled “poison”.
Nearly seven months later, the dad-of-three was loudly sobbing in the dock at Liverpool Crown Court, almost bent double, clutching the glass panels in front of him, as he watched his distraught teenage daughter cry: “He stabbed my mum. I was in the shop. I saw it with my own two eyes. I just need my mum to be alright. I’ll give you anything and everything.”
The 17-year-old’s testimony, captured mere moments after she had witnessed her mum, Nilani Nimalarajah, lying in a pool of blood in the doorway of the convenience store in Bootle where she worked, barely, if at all, conscious, made for truly harrowing viewing. It was undoubtedly among the most distressing pieces of evidence Liverpool’s Queen Elizabeth II Law Courts had seen in its more than four decades looming over Derby Square.
Jurors, members of the public, journalists and even some on the counsel benches of courtroom 32 sat in tears as they witnessed this young girl scream, howl and plead for an outcome other than the inevitable, the crippling sting of raw, unrestrained grief vividly unfolding before the glare of a police officer’s body worn camera. Until this point, Mathiyadaranam, on trial accused of Nilani’s murder, had shown not a moment of emotion in the dock, remaining blank faced even as he watched the all too graphic CCTV footage of the disturbing moment that he coldly and brutally set about butchering his estranged wife in her place of work, stabbing her, in all, 18 times to her chest, back, head, neck, abdomen, groin, arm and hand.
This sudden onset of emotion indicated, for the first time, that he might be considering matters through the eyes of his own flesh and blood, those whose lives he had devastated, rather than his own self pitying interests. The following morning, as the court began to assemble for the second day of the case, the 47-year-old asked to speak to his defence team down in the cells before, around an hour later, he reappeared in the dock and, at last, admitted his guilt in front of a jury of nine men and three women.
Failed businessman’s ‘last’ selfie
It will now seem like a lifetime ago for the couple’s three children, but the Nimalarajahs once lived an ordinary, quiet family life. Mathiyadaranam first arrived in the UK from his native Sri Lanka in 1999, being granted asylum two years later and then becoming wedded to Nilani via an arraigned marriage in 2005.
While he later went on to set up his own businesses, it was this that would ultimately lead to his downfall. When matters began to turn south in this department, he turned to drink and entered into a spiral that he was never ultimately able to pull himself out of.
The issue first came to a head on January 21 2024, when Mathiyadaranam was deemed too drunk to attend his eldest daughter’s school parents’ evening. But, back at home in the flat above Low Cost Food and Wine on Stanley Road, where the husband and wife then both worked, he began to angrily berate the teenager and “went to either punch or slap” her.
Nilani, as her mum, instinctively placed herself between her partner and her child, being struck to the face and neck for her troubles. Mathiyadaranam’s brother, who had moved in with the family as the father’s alcoholism worsened, stepped in, but his attempts to calm the situation were fruitless and instead resulted in him being throttled and bitten on his neck.
The killer-to-be was subsequently released on bail by police under conditions not to contact his family. But, not for the last time, he ignored such orders, bombarding his now estranged wife with abusive text messages and phone calls before returning to the store on the evening of March 15 that year.
In a somewhat erratic manner, a “very angry and drunk” Mathiyadaranam was said to have taken a drink from the shelves, scanned it at the till as a result of Nilani’s refusal to serve him and left £2 on the counter. He would then return two minutes later to ask her what time her shift finished, before chillingly telling her: “If you don’t let me in, you will die and I will die.”
Mathiyadaranam left again, returning once more five minutes later while speaking to a woman, thought to be his sister in Switzerland, on the phone, saying: “I’m not going home. Only two hours left and I will sort my problem.”
His bizarre behaviour would continue with him attempting to buy a box of latex gloves, handing some of these to Nilani and placing the remainder within his bag and leaving a further £2 at the till. He then attempted to take a selfie with her and added: “This is the last picture. Who will look after our children? Ask your daughter to stay with my brother.”
Mathiyadaranam later admitted assaulting his brother thereby occasioning him actual bodily harm and a campaign of harassment against Nilani. In October 2024, he was handed a 12-month imprisonment suspended for 18 months, as well as restraining orders which would, in theory, prohibit him from contacting his wife and 17-year-old daughter until April 1 2026.
Nimalarajah Mathiyadaranam admitted the murder of Nilani Nimalarajah(Image: Merseyside Police)
The ‘trigger for murder’
With Mathiyadaranam banned from the family home, exiled to an address on Warrington Road in Widnes while ignoring their pleas for him to go to rehab, Nilani and the couple’s three daughters remained in the flat on Stanley Road. She continued working in the shop, the kind of cornerstone on which a community is fostered, known for handing out sweets to schoolkids free of charge or going out of her way to source products that weren’t in stock if a customer so required.
But then, in the early summer of 2025, what should have been a happy occasion instead seemingly sparked a fury in Mathiyadaranam that would eventually lead to Nilani’s death at the age of 44. As Annabel Darlow KC would later tell the jury during an ultimately curtailed murder trial: “The trigger for Nilani’s murder appears to have been this defendant’s anger and his misplaced sense of pride that he had not been involved or invited into a significant family event.
“The defendant is of Sri Lankan heritage, and part of his cultural heritage involves the family holding a celebration when a girl has her first menstrual period. Nilani’s second daughter had recently celebrated this milestone in her young life, but the defendant had not been invited to the traditional celebration. His reaction was one of the most appalling and pre-meditated violence.”
While Nilani’s reticence to extended an invite to Mathiyadaranam was more than understandable given his recent past, and with him being legally barred from attending in any event, he certainly did not agree with such an assessment. He was said to have learned of his middle daughter’s milestone during a visit to his home country in June last year, with his own counsel, Tim Forte KC, later telling the court he took this as a “very grave blow”.
It was arguably during this trip the first formative elements of the plan to kill can be traced back, with Mathiyadaranam having purchased a pesticide in a brown glass bottle, of the same type which a family member had previously ingested in order to take his own life, while back in Sri Lanka. He would return to the UK on June 16 and, four days later, shortly after midday on June 20 2025, boarded an Arriva bus from Seacombe to Birkenhead.
CCTV of Nimalarajah Mathiyadaranam boarding a bus on Birkenhead Road in Seacombe before he travelled to Bootle and stabbed his wife Nilani Nimalarajah to death(Image: Merseyside Police)
Vanishing Poundland duct tape and a £5 set of Asda George knives
From Birkenhead, Mathiyadaranam travelled over the water to Queen Square Bus Station in Liverpool city centre before taking a third bus, heading northbound to Bootle and venturing into Strand Shopping Centre. There, he bought a roll of duct tape from Poundland, an item which police, oddly, never found, but which was said to be “intended to be used if needed during the murder”, and visited three other shops without making any purchase.
Mathiyadaranam then made his way to Asda on Strand Road, “donning a disguise” by wearing a blue surgical mask around his chin as he entered the supermarket. By the time he reached the aisle housing the kitchen knives, it had been pulled up over over his face.
CCTV of Nimalarajah Mathiyadaranam browsing the aisles of Asda in Bootle for knives hours before he stabbed his wife Nilani Nimalarajah to death(Image: Merseyside Police)
There, he spent a few minutes assessing his options before, as a woman passed by pushing a pram and with two young children by her side, selecting a George-branded set of five with an accompanying plastic block. Hours later, he would use the largest of these, one with a 19cm blade, to murder Nilani.
After around 10 minutes of shopping, Mathiyadaranam made his way to the self-service checkouts, scanning the £5 knives and four 250ml cans of Absolut and Sprite, priced at £2.17 each but on offer at four for three. He would feed a £10 note and a £5 note into the machine before leaving, discarding of the plastic block and packaging, unnecessary for his purposes, in some bushes beside the store.
CCTV of Nimalarajah Mathiyadaranam purchasing knives using the self-checkout of Asda in Bootle hours before he stabbed his wife Nilani Nimalarajah to death(Image: Merseyside Police)
From there, Mathiyadaranam chose his unusual seat on the floor outside JobCentre Plus and continued his drinking which, according to his account, had persisted throughout the previous night and that morning. For a period of two-and-a-half hours, he then vanished from the view of cameras.
When he eventually reappear, he would be seen confronting his eldest daughter outside Pound Plus in Kirkdale shortly before 4.30pm, apparently quizzing the teen as to why he had not been informed of her sister’s impending coming of age ceremony, which she and a friend had been picking out flowers for at the shop. With father and child eventually going their separate ways, he would then take the bus back up Stanley Road, bound for Low Cost Food and Wine.
However, Mathiyadaranam opted not to get off the bus at the stop directly outside the store. Instead, he waited until the next stop, walking through the grounds of Hugh Baird College and sneaking into King’s Gardens via a gap in a hedge.
Upon entering the park, Mathiyadaranam was unmasked, the hood of his jacket down and his JD Sports bag strapped over his shoulder. By the time he re-emerged at the entrance opposite Keble Road, and diagonally across the street from Low Cost Food and Wine, his hood was up, his outer clothing had been changed, the mask was on and he was wearing a pair of gloves “despite the heat of this midsummer day”, with the drawstring bag now concealed underneath his clothing.
For three minutes, he sat on a wall on the edge of the park, seemingly waiting for the coast to clear. Nilani served her final customer and with his victim “alone and utterly defenceless”, Mathiyadaranam approached.
CCTV footage of Nimalarajah Mathiyadaranam sitting on a wall opposite Low Cost Food and Wine in Bootle moments before he entered the store and stabbed his wife Nilani Nimalarajah to death(Image: Merseyside Police)
‘I’m not running, don’t worry’
It was almost exactly 5pm, and Stanley Road was a hive of activity, the buzz of a full weekend to come hanging expectantly in the air. Among this busy scene, Danielle Hopkins, a regular customer who knew Nilani as “someone who worked very long hours but, nevertheless, was always cheerful and friendly”, pulled up outside the shop, planning to pick up a few bits of shopping.
But, after getting out of her car and walking around to the pavement, her partner, sitting in the front passenger seat, began gesturing out of the window towards some sort of commotion which was unfolding in the doorway. Briefly, she neared the store for a closer look through the glass pane, but then suddenly bolted back to her vehicle.
What she had witnessed inside was a snapshot of a truly unimaginable horror. She had arrived in the midst of Mathiyadaranam administering a total of 14 stab wounds, some of which penetrated the heart, left lung, spine and skull, and four slash wounds as Nilani desperately tried to break free from her attacker, fighting in vain for her life.
Moments beforehand, CCTV inside the store had captured her seemingly becoming aware of her estranged husband’s presence as he was sighted by external cameras, her eyes darting between a live feed of this footage on a television screen and the entrance. He meanwhile set about another spot of subterfuge, closing the open door as he entered and headed into an aisle located behind the counter, out of view.
Nilani stood up from her chair, grabbed hold of her mobile phone and went to close the front door again. But, as she made her way back towards the till, Mathiyadaranam, having completed a circuitous route, sprang out from the far end while wielding a knife which he had pulled out from underneath his clothing in the back room.
For a moment, the two tussled by the counter before he began to deliver a succession of blows with the weapon. The melee continued beside the entrance, where he briefly dropped the blade before carrying on his brutal assault, stabbing at her chest before reaching over her shoulder to stab her in the back.
Nilani attempted to reach for the door handle, but was overpowered. Mathiyadaranam aimed at her head, snapping the tip of the blade off in the process. A National Lottery stand was toppled over in the chaos and, eventually, having inevitably lost a huge amount of blood, she collapsed beside it. But her assailant was not done yet.
Police at the scene at Low Cost Food and Wine on Stanley Road in Bootle(Image: Liverpool Echo)
Sickeningly, Mathiyadaranam would then lift up his already gravely injured wife’s top and appeared to aim further, deliberately calculated stab wounds, thereafter “manipulating” the knife to ensure that she stood no chance of survival. To add further insult to what was already considerable injury, he downed the pesticide, seemingly intending to take his own life, and launched the glass bottle at Nilani’s head, causing it to shatter into pieces.
Mathiyadaranam selected a bottle of Whyte and Mackay whisky from the shelf behind the till and necked half of its contents as members of the public bravely rushed to her aid. A healthcare assistant who was on her way to work, Jodie Reardon, applied pressure to her wounds and was able to kick the discarded, blood stained knife underneath an ice cream freezer while the culprit still lingered menacingly.
Witnesses described Mathiyadaranam as “looking as if nothing happened and staring” and with an “expressionless look on his face, unaffected by the scene in front of him”. Given the extent of Nilani’s injuries, attempts at resuscitation were, sadly, futile, and Nilani would later be pronounced dead in hospital at 5.53pm.
Mathiyadaranam was meanwhile wrestled to the ground and arrested upon the arrival of the police, confessing “I did this” and telling the officers that he was “very upset as he had not seen his daughters for the last 18 months”. He went on to “complain that the handcuffs were too tight for him” and added: “I’m not running, don’t worry.”
Police at the scene at Low Cost Food and Wine on Stanley Road in Bootle(Image: Liverpool Echo)
Mum’s selfless final act
Having been taken into custody at St Anne Street Police Station, PCs noted Mathiyadaranam was “sweating profusely” and a “strong chemical smell”. He was said to have been “unsteady on his feet and short of breath”, having also “lost control of his bowels” as the poison he’d consumed seemingly began to take effect.
Mathiyadaranam was taken to the Royal Liverpool Hospital and spent 20 days in a coma before he was eventually discharged from treatment. When finally interviewed by detectives on July 16, he made no comment in reply.
However, he would go on to pass a number of illuminating remarks to a consultant forensic psychiatrist, instructed by his own solicitors as part of the process to determine whether he was fit to plead and stand trial, during a series of assessments in August and September of last year. He reported to the doctor that, as a result of the events concerning his second-born daughter, he confessed that he “felt an impulsive desire to end his own life, but decided his wife had made everyone else suffer so she should die also”.
While Mathiyadaranam also told the psychiatrist that, on the day of the murder, he had “briefly changed his mind” about killing Nilani, following the confrontation with his eldest child, he stated that he had been left with the belief that “his wife must have turned her against him”. Having apparently told her that he was “going to kill her then kill himself” after entering the store, he disclosed that his victim showed what would be a remarkably selfless act, but one typical of her nature, by “asking him not to kill himself and orphan the children”.
Police at the scene at Low Cost Food and Wine on Stanley Road in Bootle(Image: Liverpool Echo)
Killer ‘shaken from state of self denial’
In spite of the truly overwhelming stack of evidence against him, Mathiyadaranam remained ignorant of his guilt and went on trial at Liverpool Crown Court this week, with the anticipation that his case to the jury would be that he had been unable to form any intention to kill or inflict serious harm due to his sheer level of intoxication. But, setting out the legal position during the prosecution’s opening, Ms Darlow said: “As matter of law, a person who forms the intention to kill or cause serious harm which they would not have formed if sober is still guilty of the offence. The drunken intention is still, in law, intention.
“The case for the prosecution is that the defendant intended to kill Nilani. This was a pre-meditated, deliberate attack, in which the defendant knew exactly what he was doing. He waited until she was alone and helpless in the shop, then stabbed and stabbed and stabbed her until she was at death’s door.
“The killing itself was slow, deliberate and involved not only stabbing Nilani multiple times but deliberately aiming where the defendant knew would be the most vulnerable parts of the human body. That killing, we suggest, was a culmination of earlier violence and harassment of Nilani and her family, and a calculated response to a blow to his own ego when he was excluded, quite rightly, from the celebrations of his second daughter’s coming of age.”
Here, the court had before it a defendant who, seemingly, had no credible defence to rely upon. And yet, on Wednesday, the evidence began in earnest.
One of the most disturbing elements of this particularly wicked crime, numerous as they were, was that, at the same time, all three of the couple’s daughters were a matter of metres away, upstairs in the flat. The eldest, having been given a lift home by her friend’s dad following her earlier encounter with her father, happened to catch sight of a TV inside the apartment which beamed live pictures from CCTV cameras in the shop.
The teenager noticed something amiss, an unknown figure collapsed against the door, and headed downstairs, intending to lend her mother a hand with whatever had occurred. Soon, she realised the gut wrenching reality of the situation and frantically attempted to force her way inside before seeking refuge in a nearby chicken shop.
Within around 10 minutes, a police officer had taken her back upstairs, with body cam footage having captured the moment she detailed in an “extremely distressed” state: “I don’t want anything to do with him any more. I tried to keep everything strong, because I’m the first daughter.
“He stabbed my mum. I was in the shop. I saw it with my own two eyes. He shouldn’t even be coming here. He’s been threatening us. I can’t live without my mum, I promise you. I need my mum. I loved him, I did. My whole life, I’ve had no one for me except for my mum. I need my mum. I need my mum with me. He was just sat there. I just need my mum.
“I just need my mum to be alright. I’ll give you anything and everything. I just need my mum to be alright. Was it once or twice? I don’t know how long he was there. I don’t know what happened.”
The final piece of evidence to be heard by the court on Wednesday afternoon, and ultimately during the trial, the video made for stark viewing, leaving barely a dry eye in the courtroom. Mathiyadaranam’s own reaction, set against a complete absence thereby up until that point, suggested the sands may be shifting.
Such suspicions only mounted the following morning when the court entered chambers, where legal discussions are held between counsel and the judge in absence of the public, before Mr Forte headed back downstairs for a further conference with his client. The relief was palpable when the defendant, assisted by a Tamil interpreter in the dock, twice spoke the word “guilty” in response to the charges of murder and possession of a bladed article being put to him again, sparing the family and jury any further torment.
During Mathiyadaranam’s sentencing hearing on Friday, Mr Forte told the court of the impact of the CCTV and bodycam footage: “He was shaken from his state of denial. He was told of the impact that proceedings are having on his daughters.
“Finally, the man Nilani married many years ago awoke from self denial. He has demonstrated, eventual, heartfelt remorse. He is in pain. He will have to live with the weight of this for the rest of his life, no matter what sentence your honour passes. That is going to be part of his greatest punishment.”
But, imposing a life imprisonment with a minimum term of 29 years behind bars, Judge Brian Cummings KC rejected suggestions of Mathiyadaranam’s newfound remorse. He remarked in sentencing: “During the attack, you present as controlled, purposeful and matter of fact.
“In my judgement, there are a number of serious aggravating factors. I am entirely satisfied that, as the prosecution have always maintained, this was premeditated murder and a significant level of planning, including the precautions that you took to avoid being detected before you had done what you set out to do, is evident from the circumstances.
“I am left with the conclusion that this was an exceptionally cruel and brutal murder, in the course of which the victim was subjected to an exceptional level of mental and physical suffering. The victim, who was, by all accounts, a kind and thoroughly decent woman, as well as a good mother, was effectively trapped in the shop in terror of her life and subjected to a number of blows with a large knife.
“What your actions demonstrate is that you were absolutely determined that your victim did not survive and were callously indifferent to any enhanced suffering that you occasioned in achieving that end. It has had devastating consequences for all three of your children. They are, effectively, now orphaned.
“It is certainly the position that you were, for the majority of your life, a decent, hard working family man. But your life began to spiral some years ago. You began drinking to excess and became dependant on alcohol. Efforts to assist you were unsuccessful.
“It is, undoubtedly, a sad picture, but, I am afraid, there is nothing, in my judgement, which reduces your culpability. You knew exactly what you were doing. Nor, I am afraid, can I accept the suggestion that you have shown any meaningful remorse. Remorse means being sorry for what you have done. Until yesterday morning, you were denying responsibility for the lion’s share of your misconduct, including, of course, the murder.”
‘Nilani was love in its purest form’
In the face of such an evil act, it is perhaps understandable the focus can end up falling on the perpetrator. But it is perhaps more important to remember Nilani, the woman described by her daughters as being “love in its purest form”.
Detective Chief Inspector Alan Nuttall, who led Merseyside Police’s investigation into the murder, told the ECHO outside court following the sentencing hearing: “For her children, she was a fantastic mother and role model, the person they went to for every single piece of support. She worked long hours in that store to support her children.
“Community members commented how friendly, approachable and supportive she was as an individual. My understanding of her as a character is a formidable woman, intent on supporting her children and serving the local community.”
Nilani Nimalarajah died after being stabbed to death at Low Cost Food and Wine in Bootle(Image: )
Nilani’s eldest daughter would also pay an emotional tribute to her mum, one which, once again, left her dad in tears in the dock. In a statement which was read to the court on her behalf, she said: “My mum was my everything. We were best friends. She brought me and my younger sisters up to be respectful, honest, selfless, caring and to always forgive.
“My mum was such a strong woman. She would never allow anyone to disrespect our family and would stand up for anyone she loved. She was convinced he would change. She would always defend my dad, no matter what. The day before she died, she said to me ‘whatever he does, he’s still your dad’. This was the type of person she was.
“Losing my mum has changed everything. She was the person I went to for advice, comfort and support. She was the one who encouraged me through school, helped me plan my future and made me feel safe. Her absence is something I feel every single day.
“I miss her voice, her laugh and the way she made even the hardest days seem manageable. There’s a constant emptiness in my life which I will never fully recover from. My mum worked long hard hours and provided for us.
“From an early age, mum was my role model. She taught me how to cook, clean and practical life skills. She taught me to keep smiling through the hardest days. I never thought I would have to do this without her.
“I believe he’s lost the right to be our father. I believe in karma and that actions have consequences even beyond the courtroom. What he’s done to my mum will follow him for the rest of his life. While the law will decide his punishment, karma will ensure he lives with the weight of what he’s done. My mum deserves peace now.”